The two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday were involved in the February 2019 suicide attack that killed 40 security forces personnel, Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.
The two militants have been identified as Mohammed Ismal Alvi, who was also known as Lamboo and Adnan, and Sameer Dar. Both of them were named in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency for the 2019 suicide attack.
Kumar said that a total of 19 men were suspected of being involved in the 2019 attack, of which eight have been killed in gunfights, seven have been arrested and four are still absconding, the Hindustan Times reported.
In February 2019, 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed after an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into their bus in Pulwama. In August, the National Investigation Agency had filed a chargesheet in the case.
Alvi, according to the police, was an expert in making improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and was related to Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. He was also associated with the militant group’s member Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber who rammed into the CRPF convoy.
He was also involved in the killing of special police officer Fayaz Ahmad and his family, the police said, according to The Hindu. Fayaz Ahmad, his wife and daughter were killed on June 27 after militants opened fire after barging into their home in Pulwama’s Tral town.
The two militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Pulwama on Saturday morning.
The security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the forest areas of Namibian and Marsar and the “general area” of Dachigam. They had received inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
The search operation turned into a gunfight after militants opened fire at a search party of the forces, who then retaliated, the police said.
In the past month, several militants have been killed in gunbattles with security forces.
On July 2, five militants, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Nishaz Lone, were killed in an encounter in Hanjin village of Pulwama district.
On July 14, the security forces had killed three militants in an encounter in Pulwama. One of those killed was Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Aijaz, alias Abu Huraira, a resident of Pakistan, The Hindu reported.
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